Battlefield
by Esso
Summary: She could say many things about love; how it lied to you and pretended to be sweet when really it was the most bitter of all... Her sorrows may be resilient, but that doesn't mean they can't be tranquilized.


**A/N: **Written for a contest on dA. The point of the contest was to enter anything based on Jordin Sparks' song Battlefield. I actually don't like the song, but I'm friends with the person running the contest, so I decided to enter.

And, lo and behold, the lyrics made me think of my OTP.

I'm not sure how good this is - I have a feeling this isn't my best work, but alas. This was far too difficult to squeeze out of my brain. Hope y'all enjoy it anyway.

I don't own Hetalia or the song Battlefield. Go figure.

* * *

I. _My world's nothing when you're gone. I'm out here without a shield - can't go back, now…_

"Hey, Lizzy."

Elizaveta Hédeváry is lying down on the grass, looking up at the stars, when a girl named Lilli finally breaks the comfortable silence.

"Yeah?"

"I think I'm in love with Vash."

"Good for you," she says, since talking about love makes her angry. However, because she isn't pathetic like England, she won't need to visit the "bloody pub" to drown her sorrows. Hers are much more resilient, anyhow.

Lilli is probably blushing, but Elizaveta can't tell and doesn't want to know. The other girl is a dear friend, but she is talking about love and Elizaveta isn't into that kind of thing anymore.

"So, what do I do now?" Lilli asks.

Elizaveta rolls her eyes, only because Lilli can't see. "Wait and hope something comes of it."

"Is that how it worked with Austria?"

And that's when she tenses. She merely dislikes talking about love itself, but absolutely hates talking about the man she used to love. She feels stereotypical, but she (sadly) cannot stop her own feelings.

"I don't talk about Austria anymore," she says at length.

"But… why not? It's been so long…"

Yes, it has been a long time, but not for countries. And people like Lilli that keep asking stupid questions make sure that the wound stays fresh.

"And why should I talk about him? There's nothing to talk about."

"You two were married for fifty years! There has to be something you can tell me about love."

She could say many things about love; how it lied to you and pretended to be sweet when really it was the most bitter of all. But this was Lilli, and Lilli was too young to really understand and it was Vash's job to ruin her innocence.

"I can tell you this: I was madly in love, and then Austria started acting crazy. Sometimes I thought he still loved me, and most of the time he was distant and it all went downhill from there."

Lilli is silent for a few moments, and Elizaveta thinks for a moment that they are done talking. But of course not – this _is _Lilli, after all. "But isn't that just love when it's messed up? Maybe that wasn't love at all."

Elizaveta can't believe what she has just heard. Her head turns sharply toward her companion and she sits up briskly. Lilli looks at the older girl in fear. "It was love. Don't question it. You people think you know so much about what Rod- Austria and I had but you don't. You don't know a thing."

"Sorry," Lilli says sheepishly.

Pathetic. Sorry means nothing. That's what Austria said once. It didn't mean anything then, either.

"What did you do, Lizzy? What messed it up?"

"I didn't do anything." It's surprisingly venom-less. "It was him."

"It couldn't have been _all_ him. It was probably both of you."

Elizaveta draws her knees to her chest and rests her chin on them. She doesn't speak. Lilli thinks she knows everything about love, thinks that she could possibly understand the reason for the divorce. It's preposterous, really, since Lilli has just been asking what to do after you figure out that you're in love.

So Elizaveta chooses not to speak, and instead stares at the stars. She tries not to think about the time Ro- Austria told her that they were shining there for her and she had laughed and told him he was sweet.

She tried not to think about how everything reminded her of him.

II_. __I know what's happening here. One minute, it's love, and, suddenly, it's like a battlefield…_

"Where were you this afternoon?"

She sighed. He had only been home a few hours, and he was already interrogating her. Sometimes she almost wished she had married an idiot. Most of the time she merely wished she had never married at all.

"Were you visiting someone?"

He sure knew how to ruin a moment. This was supposed to have been a time to spend together, as in being in love and not arguing, like she suspected normal couples did. But now it was just cold grass poking her through her dress and too-bright stars and her husband acting more like her stern master from long ago.

"Who?"

"Lilli," she lied softly. She had decided not to tell him about the fun game of "Beat Gilbert in a Drinking Contest".

She was almost certain he relaxed – he may have even smiled. "If you want to visit her, please simply tell me first. I simply-"

"-don't want me to get hurt. I know."

She felt a hand on her back. Looking up, she saw him smiling at her. "I'm sorry, Lizzy, but it is for your own good."

Still, she refused to say anything.

"I love you."

The words were whispered against the top point of her ear. She felt his fingers comb through her hair, gently as only he could. It was sad, her inability to stay angry with him for long. Sighing in contentment this time, she nestled herself against him, brushing her lips against his neck before settling into one position.

She listened to him breathe and focused on that sound as she closed her eyes. He was still playing with her hair, something she finally didn't mind.

"Lizzy," he said softly.

"Mmm?"

"See all those stars? They're shining for you."

"That's silly, Roddy. They've always been there, so they couldn't possibly be there just for me."

"But they are," he persisted playfully. "You're the only one worth shining for."

"You're sweet," she said, removing her head from his chest so she could grin at him. "Sweet, but unbearably silly."

She didn't allow time for a response as she pressed her lips to his. Even though she could feel his smile, it didn't last. He was smiling sheepishly and she rolled her eyes in mock annoyance.

Suddenly stricken with an idea, she gave his shoulders a playful shove, which, due to her superior physical strength caused him to topple over onto his back. Before he could sit back up, she kissed him again, this time propping herself up with her forearms on his chest. The smile she felt was wider and more devious, and it made her smirk as well.

The sex was amazing, but the next morning he complained about grass stains on his clothes and wouldn't let her visit Lilli, even though she was telling the truth.

III. _I never meant to start a war. You know, I never wanna hurt you_

She lifts her hand to knock on Aus- Roderich's hotel room door, but lets it pause in midair and fall to her side. She turns and walks away, back to her room. She decides that meeting England at the bar may not be a bad thing.

Her sorrows may be resilient, but that doesn't mean they can't be tranquilized.

_We could pretend that we are friends tonight._

_And in the morning, we wake up, and we'd be alright._

_'Cause, baby, we don't have to fight,_

_And I don't want this love to feel like a battlefield, a battlefield, a battlefield…_


End file.
